Law School Athletes Win Second Phoenix Cup in Two Years

For the second consecutive year, we are the champions, my friends.

The Law School has earned the Phoenix Cup, awarded to the graduate program earning the most points in sanctioned intramural activities, for the second time in as many years. Law School athletes finished the year with 2,195 points, far ahead of even formidable second-place finisher, Chicago Booth, which had 1,330 points. The Law School outdid its own 2011-2012 Cup-winning performance, when it earned 2,065 points.

This year, the Law School won championships in these team sports:

  • Graduate Men’s Flag Football
  • Coed Bowling
  • Graduate Coed Volleyball
  • Coed Kickball
  • Graduate Coed Ultimate Frisbee
  • Coed Wiffleball

Stephen Richer, ’15, won an individual championship in Singles Racquetball.

The Department of Physical Education and Athletics awards the Phoenix Cup based on a point system that takes into account regular-season and tournament wins as well as participation. Points are deducted for forfeits or ejections. The Phoenix Cup is the award for graduate programs; undergraduate intramural players strive for the Maroon Cup. This is just the third year of the Phoenix Cup’s existence.

The Law School’s championship wiffleball team, “Layin’ Down the Law,”  lost just once in the past two years, earning back-to-back titles.

Team member Andrew Porter, ’13, said the benefit of intramurals is twofold. One, “it’s an opportunity  for law students to work together outside of the classroom and to interact with students and teams from other schools around the university,” he said. “More importantly, it's a great chance to show those students from other schools that the Law School is not only the university's finest academic wing, but also the best at hitting a hollow plastic ball very far.”

The Cup, a gold-colored receptacle mounted on a solid wood block, is at the Law School now, from last year’s win. Soon, it will depart to be engraved with the latest victory and returned for another year in its rightful home.